The green Eyed monster
by jenny sherman
Summary: Leo gets infected by a demon. Will the sisters figure it out before he destroys the power of three? completed story


**THE GREEN EYED MONSTER**

Summary: Jealousy infects Leo although nobody knows it. He begins to act strangely and eventually things get dangerous. Soon the very sisters lives are at stake.

CHAPTER 1 

It had been a good 6 months now since Leo had become fully human again. At first he had found it very hard to adjust, he had felt that he needed to prove that he could still protect his family. But as time passed he realised that he had nothing to prove. Then the sisters had given him a purpose again, running magic school seemed like it was a job made just for him alone. He loved every second of it and he was very appreciative of his family for their help. He had finally found his new place in the world.

"The former Elder is how we are going to destroy the charmed ones," said the demon Zaltier looking at his minions, who were looking back at him confused. He realised that he had to explain his plan to his stupid followers.

"He is human now, and with humanity comes feelings, yes he had them before but he was always in full control of them, now he is as vulnerable as any human, especially to jealousy" he said raising his finger in the air to prove his point.

"I am going to destroy the power of three by getting the husband to kill the eldest witch"

"With feelings" said one of his minions as he began to laugh, the laughter caught on until finally everyone was in hysterics, all except Zaltier. He raised an energy ball and threw it at him, killing the minion instantly. The laughter ceased and everyone lowered his or her eyes in fear.

"I will infect him with a curse, the curse of jealousy and disguise it in an energy ball, then with a few suggestions in his ear he will fall deeper and deeper into his void" he looked at the group realising that he now had their attention and understanding.

"When he is at the critical stage, I will just push him over the edge and force him to kill his precious wife. Prepare yourselves for tomorrow we attack in force, we will need to distract them and give them no reason to think that we were after him alone" He shimmered away leaving his minions pleased that their masters plan would work.

The Charmed ones were enjoying an unusual peaceful time in the garden. The summer this year had been a record breaking one so far and they were all enjoying the few moments of soaking up some sun.

"I suppose this is the closest that we will get to a holiday this year" Paige said as she sipped her cocktail that Pheobe had lovingly made. Phoebe was occupying one of the lounges and Paige was in the other. Piper had opted to lie on the grass on top of her blanket.

"Leo would you mind placing some more sun tan lotion on my back please" Leo, who had always preferred to sit in the shade placed his paper down and smiled goofily at his wife.

"It's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it," he said as he raced over to her side. Piper smiled at him and moved her hair aside so that he could reach her neck.

"Ohh Leo would you do me too" Phoebe said in a silly girly voice.

"Hey you, get your own pool boy this ones taken" Piper said with a giggle. Leo undid Piper's bikini and massaged in the lotion.

"Oh thank you honey, that feels so nice"

"Hey, you two get a room" Paige said throwing her cartoon book at them.

"This is so nice, just some time together, no demons, the kids safe at nursery, P3 dealt with, my column handed in and finished and Paige's charge happy"

After 30 minutes or so Leo decided that it was time to refill their drinks and headed inside.

Piper and the girls all jumped up when they heard a loud crash.

"Leo" piper called out and ran into the kitchen followed closely by her sister. They found Leo on the floor surrounded by broken glasses, trying to fight off two demons hand to hand whilst others approached. Without hesitation or words their all dived in to help. Piper blew up a couple, Paige threw back their energy balls kills a couple more and Pheobe kicked the crap out of one of the two holding Leo down.

Zaltier shimmered in out of sight and raised his energy ball. As Leo stood up Zaltier threw it at him. Piper saw the ball hit him squarely in the chest throwing it across the room.

"LEO" she shouted and ran to him as the demons disappeared.

"CHICKENS, is he okay" Phoebe said as they all leant down around him. Leo was unconscious. Piper was fussing over him.

"He is a little burned but he is alive thank god" Piper said as she reached up for the first aid kit.

"Hold on, let me. I have been practicing my Whitelighter powers and I kind of wanted to surprise you both, but here goes" she closed her eyes and placed her hands over Leo's wound. Concentrating hard a familiar glow appeared from her hands and Leo's wound began to heal.

Piper and Pheobe were shocked, as was Leo when he awoke. Paige sat back on her bum, as she was a little dizzy.

"Wow Paige that was awesome" said Pheobe as she hugged her baby sister. Piper helped Leo sit up.

"Oh well, it is just a perk of being a Whitelighter"

"That's no perk Paige, it takes hard work to master the healing power, I'm proud of you" Leo said with nothing but admiration in his eyes.

Piper and Pheobe hugged her.

"Well done sis" said Piper.

"Well I had to master it when you think about all the trouble that you two get yourselves into"

"Us two" Pheobe said as they began to tickle Paige, the stress from the attack began to vanish.

"We lost 7 men Zaltier, I hope that this plan of yours works"

"I hit him squarely in the chest, it worked, now we will have to wait a couple of days for it to take hold of him then nothing will stop it, tiny bits of doubt will start to enter his brain then it will escalate until he breaks"

The next few days passed without incident. They had done a bit of sunbathing, relaxing, taking the kids to the park but now Monday had arrived and the busy week began.

Leo had been feeling a little unusual; he couldn't quiet put his finger on it. He didn't mention it to Piper, as she would only worry like usual.

The smell of breakfast woke him and he rolled over to hug Piper, but she wasn't in bed. He got up and took a quick shower then dressed and made his way downstairs. Phoebe had already left extra early for work today when Piper had come down with the boys, Paige was helping her make the breakfast. They were chatting happily when the phone went.

"I'll get it" Piper said as Paige was cleaning Chris's dirty face.

"Hello" Piper asked. The person on the other end wanted to speak to Jason.

"Sorry you have the wrong number, take care now bye"

"Who was that calling so early?" Leo asked as he came around the corner.

"Just a wrong number" Piper said and placed the phone back down, she moved over to him and kissed him good morning.

Leo seemed to think that it was strange to say 'take care now' to a stranger, and it was weird the way she put down the phone just as he entered the kitchen. He shook it off and greeted his kids.

"Well looks like I am going to kind of get a holiday as my new charge is in Fiji ha ha, see you guys later" Paige said grinning happily and orbed out.

"So, will you be home on time tonight honey"

"Why what have you got planned" he asked Piper frowned.

"Nothing don't be so suspicious, I just wanted to know if you would be home for dinner as I am making your favourite" she said as she sat on his lap.

Leo smiled and hugged her but underneath he was wondering why she was making him his favourite, did she feel guilty for something.

"Sounds great, I had better go honey, papers to grade" he helped her off his lap and kissed his sons. As he left the room he just couldn't shake the feeling out of his head that she was hiding something from him.

Zaltier smiled from his lair.

"It has begun"

CHAPTER 2 

It had been three days since the attack and Piper was beginning to get concerned over Leo's moods. Leo was at magic school so she decided that it was time to talk to her sisters.

"Guys, have you noticed anything strange about Leo recently" Piper looked at her two sisters who were watching TV. They both looked at each other then looked at her oddly.

"What do you mean strange?" said Phoebe.

"His moods have been a little off lately" they waited for more from her, she began to pace around the room.

"It's almost as though he has lost his trust in me a bit, just little things I suppose" they looked at each other again and Phoebe said.

"Such as"

"Well yesterday we had a wrong number call the house, he was very weird when he asked me who was on the phone it was almost as though he didn't believe me, then when I asked him would he be home for dinner he seemed to be questioning my motives"

"That's it, that's all your evidence" Paige said as she raised her eyebrows.

"Paige is right honey, it doesn't sound like anything unusual to us" Piper sighed and stopped pacing.

"I just think that there is something wrong, my gut is yelling at me that there is something wrong with him and I just cant put my finger on it"

Later that night Leo returned home and Piper greeted him with a passionate kiss.

"Missed you" she said seductively.

"Sorry that I had to work late but the schedules had to be finished for next week" Piper put her arms around his neck; he seemed to be like his old self again.

"It's okay honey, so the kids are in bed, so how about we have a little grown up time" Leo smiled as she raised her eyebrows at him. He led her up the stairs; they were almost at the top when the phone rang.

"I'll get it" she said and ran down to answer it.

"Hello,….oh mike I totally forgot,….okay I will be there as soon as poss" she put down the phone and turned to Leo.

"Sorry honey, I totally forgot. U2's band manager is stopping by tonight, they are doing that charity gig next week" Leo looked furious and looked at his watch.

"I know it is late but he is flying to New York tonight and this was the only time we had to make the last minute arrangements" she walked up the stairs to him and he could see that she was truly sorry.

"It's okay," he said as his mood cleared a bit "do you want me to drive you"

"No, its okay, I will be back really soon I promise, keep the bed warm for me" she leant up a step and kissed him, then ran down to the mirror and checked herself, then headed out of the door.

The demon appeared in shadow behind Leo, he had made his curse so that he could only be heard by Leo and not seen.

'She is planning to meet a man tonight for business then why did she need to check herself in the mirror, is he a good looking man, does she fancy him' said the demon moving around behind him. Leo stood pondering what he though were his conscious thoughts.

'I think I will give her an hour and then go and check on her' Leo nodded at the idea from the demon and then waited for the time to pass.

Piper arrived at the club and found the manager, she led him to the VIP section of the club and they began to talk business. After 45 minutes or so all the details were agreed and they were both so pleased.

"That night is going to be great we will raise so much money for charity," said Owen the manager.

"So what time is your flight"?

" 1 /2 or so, I hate flying you would think that I would be used to it by now, I always need a strong drink before I go on to calm my nerves"

"Well how about some champagne to calm your nerves and celebrate our deal"

"Great, that should get me through the flight, my wife always finds it amusing that I need a drink to go on a private plan, she says that I should get hypnotherapy" They kept chatting about flight and then family and Piper showed him pictures of her kids and he did the same. They drank and chatted causally together and he told her stories of what the band did to him for jokes.

After 20 minutes he stood and told her that he had to leave, he thanked her for a pleasant evening and kissed her cheek.

"See you next week"

"Here, take the bottle for the return flight"

"You're a darlin" she said in his strong Irish accent then hugged her. It was like they were old friends.

Across the room the glass shattered in his hand as he squeezed it with anger, he watched as she smiled to herself and wrote information in her diary. Leo left the club banging into people as he ran up the stairs.

Piper left the club and 10 minutes later she was home, and Leo was waiting for her in the hallway.

"Hi honey, thanks for waiting up for me," she said as she moved to kiss him, but he pulled away. Piper looked at him worried that something had happened to the kids.

"What's wrong" Piper watched as he walked away from her and clenched his fists.

"I went to the club tonight to see if you were okay and I saw you with a man" he said with his back turned to her.

"Oh yeah that was Owen, he is the band manager for U2, such a nice man, he has two sons too" Leo cut her off

"It was obvious by the way you were all over him I guess he knew it too" Piper walked around to face him.

"What are you talking about" Piper was getting angry herself now.

"I saw you Piper, drinking champagne, hugging and kissing him"

"You were spying on me," she said raising her arms in the air in disgust.

"Don't try to turn this around, I think that it would be better tonight if I slept on the sofa and give you time to think about what you were doing tonight" he said as he walked towards the kitchen.

"I think that's a good idea, you can stay down here for as long as you like for all I care" said Piper as she walked away.

The demon smiled and waited till Piper was up the stairs, then he talked to Leo.

'She doesn't care about your feelings" he kept on a Leo for half the night putting idea after idea into his head.

CHAPTER 3 

The next day he had already gone to school when Piper had got up. It was very rare for him not to say goodbye to her or the boys. She got the boys ready for nursery and headed into the kitchen.

She busied herself with making breakfast and it took her a couple of minutes to realise that Phoebe was talking to her.

"I'm sorry Phoebes what did you say" Piper said as she looked up from buttering the toast.

"I was asking if you were okay, you look troubled" Piper looked around the room and focused on her kids.

"I cant talk about it now" she said "how about we go shopping later" Pheobe nodded but frowned, she knew that it must have been something worrying if she didn't want the kids to hear it.

"Master, how is it going?" said one of Zaltier's minions.

"Perfect, even better than I had hoped, his suspicion and jealousy are growing more faster than I anticipated. Unfortunately I can not get him whilst he is at that retched school, but tonight I will continue"

They walked slowly around the shops eating the pretzels that Piper had brought.

"It's like he is another person, he is suspicious of everything that I do, and last night when I was at the club he was actually spying on me, I think that he thinks that I am having an affair" Piper passed the bag over to Phoebe as she had just lost her appetite.

"That's ridiculous why would he even think that"

"I don't know but he is worrying me, something is wrong with him" They walked through the men's department of a huge store. As they walked through the perfume section Piper got sprayed by a man.

"Sorry, I had the bottle the wrong way around" Piper brushed off as much of the aftershave as she could.

"It's okay, I would buy it if I was you as it smells good" the man sprayed the tester on himself and they laughed and carried on.

Leo had left school early to see Piper.

'She's not here, she probably out with her new man, laughing at you behind your back' said the demon as he circled Leo. The door opened and Phoebe and Piper walked in.

"Right I had better get that column emailed in before Elise has my hide," she said as she ran up the stairs to her laptop.

"Where have you been?" Leo said in a neutral tone.

"Blowing off steam by shopping, how are you today" she walked up to him. Leo smelt the aftershave on her immediately, so did the demon.

"What is that smell" Leo said as he looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, a man sprayed it on me by mistake at the shopping centre today" she said as she sniffed it again.

'She's lying she's covered with her lovers scent' said the demon in Leo's ear causing him to get mad. Piper could see his face change and knew that he didn't believe her.

"For god's sake Leo, Phoebe was there if you don't believe me, go and ask her" Piper walked past him and headed for the kitchen.

'Of course she would protect her sister, she is probably the one encouraging her to have her affair' Leo stormed after her.

"Is there anything that you want to tell me?" he said as he grabbed her arm roughly and spun her round to face him.

"Leo you're hurting my arm, what is wrong with you"

"What's wrong with me, your waltzing around having affairs with other men and I am the one with the problem" he shoved her arm back at her forcing her to stagger backwards then he stormed out of the house. This left Piper in no doubt that something was affecting him.

CHAPTER 4 

Leo walked briskly down the street and headed towards town, he entered the first pub that he came across.

'Who does she think she is, I gave up everything for her and this is how she repays me, by having affairs with other men' said the demon as Leo ordered his first whisky. It had been decades since he had, had anything stronger than a beer and his first whisky had already made him slightly drunk, so when he ordered his second the demon knew that tonight would be the night she would die, so he kept on at him.

'I bet her sisters know about the men too, I bet they even help cover up for her, she always did put them before me' said the demon, he could see that his words were beginning to impact him greatly. He smiled and carried on.

"Paige, can you find Leo and orb his butt back here, something is wrong with him and I need" Piper was interrupted by the doorbell. She opened it up to find a man holding a huge bouquet of flowers.

"Wow" she said as the deliveryman smiled.

"I know, we don't get many orders in this price range believe me, are you Piper Halliwell" Piper nodded and he handed them to her.

"Enjoy," he said smiling, then left. Piper struggled to close the door and hold the huge amount of flowers at the same time.

"Jeez those are huge" Paige said as Piper placed them heavily on the table.

"Those are expensive" Phoebe said as she came down the stairs.

"These are, not from Leo" Piper said with a hint of disappointment.

"Thanks for the drink it made the whole thing more enjoyable, see you next week" Pheobe read out loud from the card and looked at Piper.

"It's the U2 band manager, he said that he normally deals with people who are 'more, more, more' but I was a refreshing change, I gave him the bottle of champagne to take on his flight as he is scared of flying" They all took a second to admire the flowers.

"How much do you reckon, 200, 300 dollars?" Phoebe asked.

"There are flowers in there that I haven't even seen before" said Paige smelling them.

"Anyway, to get back to Leo, I think that he is either possessed or under some kind of spell so I have written a spell to help me find out, but I need him here to I can tell" Piper said turning her back on the flowers and showing her sisters the spell

"Are you prepared for neither of your scenarios to be right" Pheobe said quietly and Piper looked at her angrily.

"What is that supposed to mean" Paige bit her lip as she felt that there might be a fight on the way.

"Well it's just that he is human now, we don't know how he is affected by all these overpowering emotions, sure he had emotions before but never were they allowed to get out of control, he was an elder for Christ sake, maybe he has just forgotten how to cope with them, don't forget that I went through this with Cole"

"Don't you dare compare Leo to Cole, they are nothing alike"

"Oh really, they both turned evil and insane for a while" Piper turned away from Pheobe and looked at Paige with anger on her face. After a few moments of silence to calm herself down, she turned back around to face Pheobe.

"I don't believe that he is having trouble coping, if you remember, he was human before when he had his wings clipped for saving my life, he acted nothing like this then"

"Okay" Phoebe said and backed away from Piper.

"Paige you find him and bring him home please, I will say the spell whilst your out" Paige nodded and orbed out whilst Piper read her spell.

It didn't take Paige long to find him, she orbed into the toilets of the pub Leo was in. She found him slumped on a barstool.

"Leo" Paige said as she walked up to him. He turned and sighed when he saw her

"Go away Paige" he said with a slur. Paige could smell the alcohol on him.

"I need you to come home with me," she said as she placed her arm on his.

"Why" he said shaking her off.

"Because we need your help with something," she said discreetly as the bartender came up to her. She smiled up and him and shook her head to let him know she didn't want anything.

"Forget it, Barkeep another drink," he said as he shook his drink in the air. The barman looked at Leo's state and shook his head.

"I'm sorry mate but I think that you have had enough" Leo looked at him disgustedly.

"What did you say to me, don't you know who your talking too" Paige raised her hands in the air between the two men.

"I'm sorry sir, I will take him home now"

"I don't need your help witch" he said as he shoved her off him. He staggered out of the door and as soon as none was around, she grabbed his arm and orbed them home.

Whilst Paige was out getting Leo Piper had taken a phone call from P3. The band that were playing tonight were having problems and she was needed to calm things down, she tried everything to get out of it but it was no use so she told Phoebe that she would be back soon.

Paige orbed in and Leo shoved her off and looked at the huge bouquet of flowers in the hallway, he picked up the card and read it.

"Where is Piper" Paige asked Phoebe who began to explain where she was.

'See how her lovers flaunt their nights of passion in front of you' said the demon. Leo grabbed the huge vase and threw it at Paige; it hit her on the back of her head and shattered, knocking her out cold. Phoebe turned to complain at him but she just got a punch across the face knocking her out too. The demon smiled.

'Tie them up then they can tell you all about how they cover up for her' Leo nodded and even though he was still drunk, he managed to drag them into the cellar, then he tied them both to a chair. Whilst he was busy tying them up the demon blinked in some chloroform

'I think that we had better use this on the Whitelighter so she cant orb out and warn Piper we are finding out about her lovers' Paige was beginning to stir and Leo took out his hanky and covered it with the liquid, he placed it over her mouth until she stopped struggling. Phoebe began to stir.

"Jesus Leo, why did you hit me, hang on, what are you doing tying us up, let me go Leo" she said as she began to struggle.

"Where is my wife?" he said grabbing her hair and pulling her back harshly.

"She is at P3, now let us go," she said shaking her head fee.

"Is that where she is meeting her boyfriend"?

"No, listen to me Leo we think that something is wrong with you, your either possessed or under some kind of spell" the demon began to look worried.

'We need to go to P3 and put an end to this sham of a marriage' said the demon, the demon blinked in a gun and Leo picked it up without question. Pheobe knew then that Piper was right.

"Leo where did that gun come from, think about it someone is controlling you"

'Shut her up' Leo hit her across the head with the gun; the alcohol was still making him slightly dopey.

'Lets go to the club and show that bitch that you won't be treated like this' Leo walked up the stairs and headed to P3.

CHAPTER 5 

"Hi Paul what seems to be the problem" said Piper as the large manager came rushing over to her.

"The problem sweaty is that the sound is way off, I am not even sure that we are getting power to all of the speakers, and I wanted to go down to the basement to check the power and electric cables but your bar clerk here wouldn't let me go down" Piper took a large sigh, every time that this band played, the manager always winged about something.

"Well Brian" piper said emphasising that his name wasn't bar clerk "was right not to let you go down there, we have health and safety to think about not to mention insurance if you hurt yourself or damaged anything down there"

"Piper sweetie the club opens in an hour, all I want to do is check" Piper held up her hands and stopped him. She placed her hand on her forehead trying to alleviate the pressure building.

"I will call Peggy, she is our electrician she will be here in 5 minutes as she just lives down the road, she will take you down to the basement and she will fix anything, is that satisfactory" Paul thought it over.

"Actually I have already called her and she will be here any second" Brian said winking at Piper.

"Good thinking for just a bar clerk hey Paul"

Now that the problem was rectified she was ready to go and sort things out with Leo.

"Piper, Piper where are you going" Paul said as he chased after her up the stairs.

"Home" she said without looking at him

"But what if that is not the only problem, you can't go yet"

"Okay fine" she said as she turned and headed back into the club. Peggy arrived and her and Paul headed to the basement. Piper sat at the bar laughing with Brian at how stupid Paul was.

Pheobe woke up and shook her head.

"Wow bad thing to do, Paige are you all right can you hear me, PAIGE" Pheobe struggled and thanks to Leo's drunken state he hadn't tied her up very strong. She was quickly free and tended to Paige. She found Leo's hanky on Paige's lap and picked it up to smell it and was immediately thrown into a vision.

Piper at the bar in P3, Leo arriving and getting angry, the gun going off and Piper being shot plus lots of demons there too.

"SHIT, Paige, Paige wake up honey" Pheobe ran upstairs to get some smelling salts to help bring her around quicker.

Piper was facing away from the doorway when Leo came in, she was still joking with Brian over the panicking Paul as they had so casually named him.

'So that's the man, someone right under your nose, kill them, kill them both and bid rid of this treachery' shouted the demon.

Piper heard footsteps and turned to see Leo pointing a gun at Brian, who had not noticed Leo enter, he had his back turned and was wiping some glasses down for the club opening. Leo fired the gun and Piper froze the room, including Leo. The bullet was about to hit Brian so Piper pushed him out of the way, then she unfroze Leo.

"Leo what the hell are you doing, put the gun down"

"Your having an affair with him, did you think that I wouldn't find out" Piper noticed that he still had the gun pointed at her.

"Leo you know that I could freeze you and take that gun away from you, but I would prefer you to put it away yourself, I am not having an affair, I love you"

'She is stalling you, trying to think of an excuse'

"You" Piper shouted pointing at the demon.

"I knew it, I knew a demon was being this" Zaltier panicked, he didn't expect her to be able to break through his curse and see him. Suddenly his minions appeared.

"seems your outnumbered witch" said Zaltier. Then Paige and Pheobe arrived behind Piper.

"oh I think the odds just got better"

Zaltier was the first to be blown up by Piper, which broke the curse on Leo; he staggered around trying to clear his head whilst the girls fought all of the other demons. Upon seeing their leader killed they became disorientated and unorganised.

During the fight Piper had forgotten about the bullet and when the room unfroze she was directly in the path of it.

"PIPER" Leo shouted as watched the bullet hit her square in the chest, she staggered backwards into the glasses that Brian had stacked so well and then collapsed onto the floor. Brian who had been pushed by her earlier had hit his head on the sink when he unfroze and now he was out cold. Paul and Peggy were in the basement around the loud boiler and pipes and hadn't heard anything.

"Oh my god" Leo said free and sobered up.

"Nice to have you back" she said as she reached for his hand.

"Paige can you heal her"

"I'm still a bit groggy I will try" Paige knelt down beside her and placed her hands over Pipers chest. Piper began to shake with pain. Paige concentrated but nothing happened.

"Paige try again please," Leo said desperately. Piper's hand slipped from his grasp and fell limply on the floor. Blood was coming out of the corner of her mouth.

"Shit" Paige said and placed her hands over her again. This time she kept them there until the familiar glow came from her hands. The blood started to fade and the hole disappeared from her chest. Piper opened her eyes and they all helped her stand.

Over the other side of the bar Brian came around.

"What happened"?

"Take it easy, you slipped on something and hit your head, rest a second" Pheobe said and sat beside him whilst Piper and Leo hugged.

The band played that night without any problems; Brian was fine and sent home for the night. Pheobe and Paige had left the manor so that Leo and Piper could talk.

Piper was curled up on his lap and he was playing with her hair. Her head was resting on his chest listening to his heart.

"How did you figure it out?" he said as he kissed her forehead.

"I know you, I know that you would never hurt me like that, I mean if we can make it through an Elders test of faith then we can sre as hell make it through a demon trying to separate us" she said as she rubbed his chest.

"I am so sorry for putting you through that"

"You didn't, the demon did" Leo tilted her head backwards.

"I love you, I trust you with my heart and with my life" They kissed

"I know how you can make it up to me" Leo's eyebrows raised then Piper stood up holding out her hand.

"Yes ma'am" he laughed and scooped her up into his arms, they ran up to the bedroom laughing and happy.

THE END 


End file.
